From hardliner Dalit activist-politician Chandrashekhar Azad to separatist preacher Amritpal Singh; from a 25-year-old and mother of two Sanjana Jatav to Padma Shri actor Kangana Ranaut – the debutante MPs of the 18th Lok Sabha represent a motley group of Zoomers, Gen-Zs, radicals, hardliners and glamour queens.
Not to be missed are the home-maker turned politicians, former CM, political strongmen, actors and a retired judge.
More than half of the elected MPs (52 per cent) or 280 are debutants. And of the 262 re-elected, some 16-odd have had Rajya Sabha terms.
Hardliners get a toehold
The victory of Chandrashekhar Azad marks a sea-change in Indian polity. Popularly called ‘Ravan’, Azad, known for his assertive brand of politics, is considered a radical. He was elected from the Nagina constituency in Uttar Pradesh, where he unseated BJP’s Om Kumar by 1.51 lakh votes. He contested on a ticket from his own outfit, the Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram).
At the other end of the spectrum is jailed MP-elect, Engineer Rashid. Rashid, who contested as an Independent candidate unseated former J&K CM Omar Abdullah from Baramulla by over 2 lakh votes. Lodged in jail for the past five years on money laundering charges related to alleged terror funding, the MP-elect is seen as the voice that had often veered on the side of separatism.
Radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh – who has also been lodged in jail - and Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, the son of one of the assassins of former PM Indira Gandhi, have made their maiden entry to Parliament. Amritpal won the Khadoor Sahib seat over Congress’ Kulbir Singh Zira. And Sarabjeet won in Faridkot over AAP’s Karamjit Singh Anmol. Both Amritpal and Sarabjeet contested as Independents.
Away from the glare, there are two veteran Communist Party of India (Marxist – Leninist) (Liberation) candidates from Bihar - Sudama Prasad and Raja Ram Singh. Prasad wrested Arrah from Union Power Minister RK Singh and Singh won Karakat unseating Bhojpuri actor Pawan Singh. The CPI (ML) Liberation – formed at the peak of the Naxalabari peasant uprising in the late 60s - is part of the INDIA bloc.
Young brigade
Among the debutants are at least six GenZs and millennials. The 25-year-old Sanjana Jatav came to the limelight after images of her celebrating her win went viral on social media. The Congress MP-elect from Bharatpur, Rajasthan was the giant-slayer, who defeated BJP’s Ramswaroop Koli.
Shambhavi Choudhary won from Bihar’s Samastipur on a LJP ticket defeating Sunny Hazari of the Congress. The daughter of Ashok Choudhary a JD(U) leader and close confidante of Nitish Kumar, Shambhavi completed her Masters in Sociology from Delhi School of Economics.
Pushpendra Saroj, son of five-time MLA Inderjit Saroj, won from Kaushambi with a Samajwadi Party ticket. He unseated BJP’s Vinod Kumar Sonkar.
Priya Saroj, daughter of three-time MP Toofani Saroj, won from the Machhlishahr seat in UP. Priya, a SP MP-elect defeated BJP’s Bholanath.
Sagar Khandre of Congress also emerged as a giant slayer after unseating Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Bhagwant Khuba from Bidar (Karnataka).
Choudhury Iqra Hasan of Samajwadi Party made her political debut at 27 wresting Kairana from BJP’s Pradeep Chaudhary. After completing her graduation from LSR College in Delhi, Iqra went to London to pursue her Master’s degree in International Politics and Law. Her father Munnawar Hasan, and mother Tabassum have been MPs.
Other Debutants
Some of the other debutants include retired Calcutta High Court judge and BJP MP-elect Abhijeet Gangopadhyay from Tamluk, actor turned politicians (of Trinamool Congress) like June Maliah (Medinipur), Sayoni Ghosh (Jadavpur) and Rachana Banerjee (Hooghly), former CM of Bihar Jiten Ram Majhi, cricketer Yusuf Pathan (Baharampur).
Also making their Parliamentary debut would be Bansuri Swaraj and Praveen Khandelwal of the BJP.
In the 18th Lok Sabha, 11 per cent of MPs are 40 years or younger, and 38 per cent are between 41 and 55 years of age; 52 per cent MPs are older than 55 years. The oldest MP is 82 years old.
Overall, the average age of the 18th Lok Sabha is expected to be 56 years, as per estimates by the think-tank PRS Legislative, down as compared to 59 years of the 17th Lok Sabha. Candidates from 41 parties have been elected this time as against 2019 when 36 parties were represented.